Sunday, August 7, 2016

Visiting a garden is like reading a book

Francis Bacon said, “God Almighty first planted a garden.  And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasure.” Emilia in Act II Scene 2 of Two Noble Kinsmen utters, “This garden has a world of pleasure in it.”  Nothing in life is more pleasurable than one's loved ones coming for a visit and visit one's garden.

My brother and sister-in-law are coming for a visit pretty soon; their impression of the garden will be the one that greets them.  But every resident in the garden is a living thing; they grow, bloom, bear fruits and wither.  It is fluid and dynamic; the appearance of the garden changes every week, if not every day.


If one visits our garden once in a season; it will be like reading a chapter of a 10-chapter book; one cannot get the whole story and may miss some characters entirely.  When we watched the hollyhock and gladiolus extruding their beauty in their glories, we lamented that my brother and sister-in-law could not see them, nor coud they see the Taiwanese cucumbers. They will also miss the zucchinis which have passed their prime now.  I am hoping the bitter melons will linger. Chinese spinach (空心) should be around to greet them.  We’re hoping some of the luffa fruits () will be ripe and not too old.  大陸妹 and arugula (I don't know its Chinese name, but French calls it roquette) will be ready in time for them.

I am showing these photos to let my brother and sister-in-law “flip through” the book so they would get a glimpse of the other chapters of the book that they didn’t read.   Skipping the first several chapters, I only show the chapters when the story is becoming more interesting and intriguing.

The garden is preparing for the visit of my brother and sister-in-law.  Every resident in the garden is as excited as we are.











































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